Canadian Innovation Exchange 2017

Brunico Communications Ltd. held the tenth annual Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) at the Hilton Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from October 17 & 18, 2017. CIX is a two day conference about technology innovation where investors, innovative companies, entrepreneurs and facilitators converge to accelerate the financing, the development and the implementation of new ideas. Attendees included technology start-ups, entrepreneur, investor, advisor, enterprise and media representatives. They learned from each other, meet and pursued partnerships and investment relationships, and encouraged the development of innovative technology. The 2017 themes were AI, diversity and the global marketplace. This conference attracted some of the key players behind Canada’s innovative technology products and services in order to learn, network, and pursue partnerships and investment relationships. The CIX 2017 was not only about learning, networking but also doing deals.

The agenda included: CIX Top 20 Showcases – presentations by innovation startups as selected by CIX’s Top 20 Selection Committee; Lunch and Learn / Workshops – new strategies to help companies grow; Tracks – Fintech, Cleantech – the latest trends and opportunities; Canadian Success Stories – with founders and their investors; Meeting Exchanges – pre-arranged face-to- face meetings between entrepreneurs and investors; ‘Conversations with’ sessions – more intimate conversations with top tech investors; Networking- opportunities for delegates to connect with other delegates at breakfast, coffee, lunch, cocktail or in the lounge.
Torontoartsandevents covered the following Sessions at CIX 2017:

Through their personal stories and insights, members of this panel discussed the stress and depression that can result from long hours in the startup world and what can be done about it.
Moderating:
Bruce Croxon Managing Partner Round 13 Capital
Panel:
Dr. Karen Katchen Psychologist and Executive Coach Katchen Consulting
Yona Shtern Executive Chairman ParkWhiz
Lee Silverstone CEO Startup in stealth mode
Jason Tafler Founder and CEO Unyte Health Inc.

C AI: The Data Edge
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
This session covered the importance of data for companies and how they can use AI and analytics to use their data for their benefit.
Moderating:
Wayne Cuervo General Manager, Toronto Innovation Centre Cisco Systems Canada Ltd
Panel:
Humera Malik, Founder and CEO, Canvass Analytics
Maithili Mavinkurve, Co-founder and COO, Sightline Innovation
Somen Mondal, CEO, Ideal
Adam Schlesinger, Chief Data Officer, National Bank of Canada

D Scaling: Going from Local to Global Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Going global or scaling global has been an issue for many Canadian tech ventures as many get bought by foreign companies and move south. These executives from Canadian tech companies discussed how they were able to scale globally – an important factor is the development of the Toronto-Waterloo hub for technologies and government support.
Moderating: Sam Ifergan, CEO & President, iGan Partners
Panel:
Kelly Aizicowitz, Director, Business Development, Figure 1
Kerry Liu, CEO, Rubikloud
Brian Mech, CEO, eSight
Jack Newton, CEO and Co-founder, Clio

F How to Build a Beloved Brand – UBER Wednesday, October 18, 2017
In the Closing keynote, Bozoma Saint John, Chief Brand Officer, UBER gave a rousing presentation of how to repair a damaged brand and that a brand does not have to be perfect to succeed but it must be itself.

Canadian Innovation Exchange Top 20

The jewel of the event is the CIX Top 20, a showcase that celebrates Canada’s best innovations and the people behind them.

CIX 2017 Innovator of the Year: Startup World Cup Canadian Cup Presentation
The Canadian winner is:
Automat, Montreal

Startup World Cup is a global conference and competition with 30 regional events across North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, leading up to the Grand Finale in US Silicon Valley. CIX is the official partner of Startup World Cup in Canada and one CIX Top 20 company will be awarded the Canadian Cup.

The CIX Top Twenty:

The CIX 2017 Top Twenty roster of 20 innovative technology companies are chosen by a selection committee made up of technology experts and investors. These companies are chosen based on a number of key factors including product/service offering, depth of management, market opportunity, and business model.
The 2017 CIX Top 20 are (in alphabetical order):

The Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) is a showcase for great Canadian innovation while catalyzing strategic relationships and transactions across this dynamic sector. CIX is attended by the people behind the innovative technologies: entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, service providers, government and media. Its objective is to bring together the key leaders and protagonists of technology-based innovation in order to learn from each other and to showcase and celebrate the tremendous innovative products, services and technologies that exist today and are providing the fuel for our economy to grow.
Canadian Innovation Exchange 2017 was an interesting event that did bring together important players in technology from across Canada. Investors, innovative companies, entrepreneurs and facilitators meet to discuss deals and companies were looking for financing. Look back here for next year’s CIX!